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 ==Early life==
 [[Image:Brianbell1987.jpg|left|thumb|120px|Brian Bell's senior photo, 1987]]Brian Bell was born in Iowa City, Iowa to parents Tom Bell, a geography professor at the University of Tennessee,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150120060437/https://geography.utk.edu/about-us/faculty/dr-thomas-l-bell/ Dr. Thomas L. Bell | Department of Geography], The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Archived by Wayback Machine from [https://geography.utk.edu/about-us/faculty/dr-thomas-l-bell/ the original].</ref> and Linda Menasco, an elementary school assistant principal.<ref name="riversedge">Luerssen, John D. Rivers' Edge: The Weezer Story. 2004. ECW Press</ref> He was raised in Knoxville, Tennessee. He first gravitated to music at the age of four when his parents took him to an Elvis Presley concert at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium. Soon after, Bell became obsessed with his father's record collection, playing them constantly. At a young age, Bell asked his mother to let him take piano lessons, refusing to let him take guitar lessons until high school because she "wouldn't believe that he would practice."<ref name="riversedge" /> Eventually, during his freshman year in high school, his parents allowed him to take guitar lessons from Knoxville musician Ben Bolt. Bell first performed with brothers [[Glenn Maloof|Glenn]] and [[Tim Maloof]] (later of [[Space Twins]]) during this time, playing in a group called [[the Blue Shrooms]].<ref>Beyond, Chris. "[http://www.peepshowmenagerie.com/nofimagazine/spatwint.htm NO-FI 'MAGAZINE' interview with Space Twins]" 1998.</ref><ref>[[Karl's Corner - Spring 1997]]</ref>
+==Music career==
+===Carnival Art===
+At the age of eighteen, Bell moved to Los Angeles, California, and enrolled at the Guitar Institute of Technology.  Soon he became a  member of [[Carnival Art]], an alternative rock band who had previously released an indie album in 1989.  After Bell joined as the bass player, the group released two albums, two EPs, and several singles through [[1993]]. The band failed to gain traction and were eventually dropped by label [[Beggars Banquet Records|Beggars Banquet]].<ref name="news-sentinel">Bledsoe, Wayne. "[[Knoxville News-Sentinel interview with Brian Bell - July 23, 1995|A Decision in the Desert, A Message on a Machine Equaled Good Fortune for Weezer's Brian Bell]]" ''Knoxville News-Sentinel''. 23 July 1995. ([https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/775589957/ Newspapers.com archive])</ref>
+===Weezer===
+Around the time of Carnival Art's dissolution, Bell became acquainted with the members of [[Weezer]]. "They started playing on the scene, and I instantly saw something unique in them" said Bell in 1995,<ref name="news-sentinel" /> "I didn't necessarily want to be in their band. They for some reason were in with the wrong crowd and playing at the wrong venues. I wanted to help them out any way I could and I wanted to play a show with them."  Bell particularly found himself amazed with "[[Say It Ain't So]]." He believed it possessed a rare "classic" sound and expressed surprise that songs like that were still being written.{{Citation needed}}
-==Carnival Art==
+{{Brian Bell quote|Hi Weezer. Please enjoy this fine recording, compliments of Radio Shack and Brian Bell. I hope to see you in New York soon.<br>Thank you,<br>—Brian|<ref>Weezer Fan Club "[[Vault Dive]]" #2, 2 August 2020. Archived on Archive.org (01:19:10) https://archive.org/details/wfc-vault-dive-2</ref>}}
-At the age of eighteen, Bell moved to Los Angeles, California, and enrolled at the Guitar Institute of Technology.  Soon he became a  member of [[Carnival Art]], a fledgling alt rock unit who had already released an indie album in 1989.  After Bell joined as the bass player, the group released two more albums, two EPs, and several singles through 1993.  Unfortunately, the band had extremely small record sales and were eventually dropped by label [[Beggars Banquet Records|Beggars Banquet]].
+One night, after resolving to quit Carnival Art, Bell returned home to find an answering machine message from Weezer bassist [[Matt Sharp]]. Sharp [[Hammerhead|called again the next day]], "Matt was just beating around the bush, and [[Rivers Cuomo|Rivers]] took the phone from him and said, 'Do you wanna join our band?'"<ref name="news-sentinel" />
-It was around the time Carnival Art was disintegrating that Bell became acquainted with the members of [[Weezer]], "They started playing on the scene, and I instantly saw something unique in them.  I didn't necessarily want to be in their band.  They were for some reason, were in with the wrong crowd and playing at the wrong venues.  I wanted to help them out any way I could and I wanted to play a show with them."  Bell particularly found himself amazed with "[[Say It Ain't So]]." He believed it possessed a rare "classic" sound and expressed surprise that songs like that were still being written.
-===Weezer===
-{{Brian Bell quote|Hi Weezer. Please enjoy this fine recording, compliments of Radioshack and Brian Bell. I hope to see you in New York soon.<br>Thank you,<br>—Brian|<ref>Weezer Fan Club "[[Vault Dive]]" #2, 2 August 2020. Archived on ''YouTube''. (01:19:10) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKnRhSaDXMs</ref>}}
-One night in the late summer of 1993, while driving home, Bell decided once-and-for-all to quit Carnival Art{{citation needed}}. When he got home he found on his answering machine a message from Weezer bassist [[Matt Sharp]]. Sharp [[Hammerhead|called again the next day]], "Matt was just beating around the bush, and [[Rivers Cuomo|Rivers]] took the phone from him and said, 'Do you wanna join our band?'"<ref>[[Knoxville_News-Sentinel_interview_with_Brian_Bell_-_July_23,_1995]]</ref>
 Bell then joined [[Weezer]] in 1993 during the recording of ''[[Weezer (The Blue Album)|The Blue Album]]'', replacing [[Jason Cropper]].  Since then he has remained a member of Weezer. Besides doing backup vocals and playing rhythm guitar and lead guitar on the ''[[Pinkerton]]'' classics "[[El Scorcho]]" and "[[Why Bother?]]", as well as on [[Van Weezer]], Bell takes on many of the multi-instrumental duties during live shows.  When songs call for the use of a keyboard or harmonica, Bell often plays them.